Both the men’s and women’s cross country teams began their season with strong races and earned team victories in the process. The women’s team, ranked 28th in the country, earned a victory in a matchup against the University of Southern Maine while the men’s team placed first out of seven teams in the Emmanuel College Fens Classic. 

The men’s squad sent 10 runners to Back Bay Fens in Boston for the Emmanuel Invitational on Saturday, taking the title with 23 points. 

The Judges also won last year's meet with a total of 36 points and an average time of 16 minutes, 35 seconds. The squad improved on both points and average time in this year's meet.

Each of the 10 members of the Judges finished within the top 35 places and covered the three-mile course in less than 17 minutes. 

Co-captain Jarret Harrigan ’15 took second place at 15:21, just one second behind Roger Williams University freshman Tim McGowan.

Harrigan matched his second-place finish from last year and finished more than a minute faster than he did last year, and had a positive evaluation of his race.

“I had no idea I was fit enough to run that fast,” he said. “I came into the day with an individual goal of maybe breaking 16:00, and I would have been over the moon with around 15:45. 15:21 is actually faster than I had run 5000 meters on the track, so even though I could not run two seconds faster and get the win, I am happy with my time.”

Ryan Stender ’18 explained that the grouping of Judges was part of their scheme entering the race.

“That was part of the racing strategy [coach Sinead Evans] gave to us; stick to the guys we trained with in practice,” he said. 

Stender continued by saying the goal was always to “stick to the guy in front of you.”

Harrigan crossed the line four seconds ahead of teammate Quinton Hoey ’17, whose time of 15:25 was good for third place. 

The Judges took six of the top-10 finishes, as Stender, Grady Ward ’16, Mitchell Hutton ’18 and Liam Garvey ’18 all ran well for the squad, finishing with a time under 16 minutes. 

Stender placed fifth overall in 15:35 while Hutton took sixth with a time of 15:42. 

The pair was followed by Ward’s eighth-place finish in 15:46 and Garvey’s ninth-place finish in 15:49. 

Stender was impressed with his first race as a member of the Judges squad.

“I’m extremely happy with my performance,” he said. “I went into it a little nervous … but my time was the best I’ve ever done for a five-kilometer [race] and I think that has to do with the training [Coach Evans] set me up with over the summer, and I think the hard work paid off.”

The squad placed two other runners within the top-15, Brian Sheppard ’18 and Matt Doran ’17. 

Sheppard took 12th at 16:03 while Doran finished at the 16:07 mark. 

Two additional runners rounded out the Judges’ competitors for the meet, Brad Payne ’17 and Russel Santos ’18. 

Payne finished 27th out of 98 registered runners in 16:40 and Santos ran the course 16:52.

The Judges finished 22 points ahead of second place Roger Williams with an average time of 15:33.80 to defend their title.

 “We are all extremely excited because we all got off to a really good start,” Harrigan said. “After the meet on Saturday, everyone, including the returners, is doubly excited to see what we can do this year.”

Stender said the win was important for the squad moving forward.

“I feel like we have a really strong team and it was important to show other teams we are a strong side,” he said.

The women’s squad faced off against the University of Southern Maine on Friday afternoon for the two squads’ traditional season-opening meet. 

The Judges won the meet—a home event held at Weston High School—by a score of 21-34, with three of the firstfive spots overall and the top-two finishers of the race. 

The Judges were led by the duo of Kelsey Whitaker ’16 and Maddie Dolins ’17 who finished the course with identical times of 16:51 for the top-two finishes overall. 

The pair was followed a pair of runners from the visiting Huskies, after which a trio of Judges all crossed the finish line in quick succession with good races. 

Lydia McCaleb ’17 finished in fifth place at 17:14 after not having ran in the race last year; Ashley Piccirillo-Horan ’17 stopped the timer at 17:22 and Kyra Shreeve ’18 ended at 17:22 as well in her first collegiate meet. The trio took fifth, sixth and seventh places, respectively. 

Picirillo-Horan improved on last year's race by four positions. Molly Paris ’17 placed ninth in 17:48, while Maggie Hensel ’17 took 11th in 18:06. 

Julia Schiantarelli ’17 and Hannah Kilcoyne ’18 rounded out the Judges’ squad, covering the course in 18:55 and 19:20, respectively. 

Both the men’s and women’s squads return to action on Sept. 20 at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Shriners Invitational.